Esther Gatón : Kids don't run around the patio. It will seem bigger.
Heures d'ouverture : jeudi > samedi, 14:00-18:00
Esther Gatón présente son travail à AFFILIATE, un espace dédié aux ancien·ne·s participant·e·s du programme de résidence de WIELS, et à la présentation de leurs projets.
Vernissage : Mercredi 9.04.2025, 18:00-21:00
Présentation : 10.04—26.04.2025, 14:00-18:00 (ouvert jeudi > samedi)
AFFILIATE : rue du Jardin des Olives 3 Olivetenhof, 1000 Bruxelles
Accès gratuit
Courtesy of the Artist
« Some say that to rip a doll apart is the child's way to seek for its soul. It is a test to see whether inanimate things can suffer, hence whether they live. The child animates her toys – moving, throwing, building them – but is she really sure those things are alive? Is she really sure they’re not? She has no evidence. She might think: “let's see if there is a response to violence.” Before that, the doll is, at once, known and unknown, familiar and unfamiliar, cosy and rough.
Some say the child can be ruthless, but we also like to think the contrary. Children need to be cute too, and so should be their belongings. Think of that IKEA children’s bed with an added roof, only there to improve cosiness. Think of spaceships, desirable war machines. We love the child but see her faults, projecting on her what marks our life, an ambivalence that is more ours than hers. »
Piero Bisello, 2025